Training on harassment laws concludes

Islamabad : A three-day residential training on Effective Implementation of Sexual Harassment Laws concluded at Mehergarh: A Centre for Learning on Sunday.

Nabila Hakim Ali Khan, Provincial Ombudsperson (Khatoon Muhtasib) Punjab commemorated the event as the chief guest. While interacting with the participants, Nabila said that she was happy to be here and seeing how different national and provincial organizations are taking this work seriously. She shared that they do face pressure during high-profile cases but the provincial ombudsperson is committed to ensure justice to the employees across Punjab.

Dr. Fouzia Saeed, Human Rights Activist, author and founder of Mehergarh was the special guest of the training. While speaking at the concluding ceremony, she expressed that now that we have the laws, it is our responsibility to effectively implement them at our workplaces. Dr. Fouzia shared her experiences of the formulation of the law and certain strategies that can be used for effective implementation.

Zafarullah Khan, an expert on the constitution of Pakistan and former Executive Director Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Services (PIPS) also attended the event as special guest. He appreciated Mehergarh’s efforts for effective implementation of sexual harassment laws. He added that the way mehergarh has institutionalized the process of implementation is remarkable.

During these three days, Maliha Husain, Executive Director at Mehergarh and the facilitator for this training, discussed the definition of sexual harassment, the role of employees, senior management and committee members as given in the law, in preventing sexual harassment within organizations. She also talked about the procedure and timeline for registering and resolving a case at workplace in a lot of detail.

The three-day training on effective implementation of ‘The Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act’ was attended by committee members and senior management of Higher Education Commission (HEC), Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Provincial Ombudsperson (Khatoon Muhtasib) Punjab, University of Sargodha, Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU), Forman Christian College Lahore, Agha Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) and Khwendo Kor.